WASHINGTON – Congressman
Jerry Lewis , the ranking Republican member of the House Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement regarding the Fiscal Year 2007 Supplemental Spending bill that is vitally needed to support our troops:

“The emergency supplemental ought to focus on our troops. It must focus on providing them with the resources they need to complete their mission successfully. It cannot micromanage our combat commanders, who have the ultimate responsibility of prosecuting the military actions that were authorized by Congress. Instead, this legislation places military decisions in the hands of politicians and attempts to buy votes for its passage by promising something to everyone.”

“There is no question in my mind that if Chairman Obey were permitted to write this bill on his own, it would be a much better product. But this emergency supplemental bill has more ornaments hanging over our many branches of government than the White House Christmas tree. It attempts to paper over Democrat divisions on the war in
Iraq by delivering billions of dollars in unrelated and unauthorized spending that is somehow given an emergency designation.”

“This legislation does not accurately reflect the will of the American public—who resoundingly support our troops—but rather the desires of Speaker Pelosi and the Abandon Our Troops Caucus within the Democratic Party. “